For photographers using long-heavy tele-zoom and telephoto lenses such as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM lens, gravity is a problem. The lens puts stress on the lensmount and camera body as it pulls the camera in a downward direction–unless it is supported. Typically, this has meant photographers simply would hold the lens by its to take stress off of the camera body (if they remembered). Dowell Enterprises has come up with a clever solution: the Lens Cradle.

The Lens Cradle is designed to fit any lens with a tripod mount. It supports the camera and lens horizontally by utilizing the tripod mounting ring on the lens. Thereby, substantially reducing if not eliminating, the damage and stress that occurs to the camera body at the lens mounting junction. The Lens Cradle gives horizontal balance and stability that a camera strap alone does not provide. You no longer need to support the weight of a large lens with your hands. The natural horizontal position keeps the camera poised to be ready for the next elusive shot and prevents lens creep on push pull lenses. It is selling for $25.

Website :  LensCradle Support for long DSLR lenses

NeoCamera did a great comparison between the two camera. The Sony Alpha A100 and the Pentax K10D compete head-to-head with the most similar feature set among 10 megapixels DSLR cameras. These two digital cameras share the same image sensor, built-in stabilization and dust-reduction. Besides the lens mount, the most prominent feature difference is the Pentax K10D’s weather-sealed body. Note that weather-sealing is only truly effective when using weather-sealed lenses. The first two such lenses, the 16-50 F2.8 and the 50-135 F2.8, are expected to ship in May 2007.

The remaining differences between the Alpha A100 and the K10D can be spit into performance features and usability features. Since these camera’s share the same sensor, performance differences were not expected to be significant. Here are the relative advantages of each camera over the other:

Sony Alpha A100: 

• Greater sharpness
• Better automatic white-balance
• Superior image stabilization
• Easier to use with gloves
• More usable status screen
• Eye-start sensor efficiently controls status display
• Keyed ISO settings help with high-contrast subjects
• DRO optimizes image tonality directly in-camera
• Wider range of image parameters, although with larger increments
• Customizable EC and AEL behavior
• Eye-start auto focus
• More lenses currently in production

Pentax K10D:

• Lower image noise
• More image details
• Better color accuracy
• White-balance preview
• Greater accessibility of features
• Larger and brighter viewfinder
• Top-mounted status screen
• Unique exposure modes
• Customizable Auto-ISO and Program line
• Finer control of image parameters including white-balance
• Weather sealing with applicable lenses when they become available
• In-camera RAW development

Website :  Pentax K10D vs Sony Alpha A100

Nikon took the D40 which is a very successful beginners DSLR and equipped it with a sensor to compete against the Canon 400D / XTi. But the D40x also inherits several weaker aspects of the D40 which stand out now it’s virtually the same price as the Canon. Here’s the conclusion from the review:

“The D40x may have a better kit lens, but the Canon 400D / XTi has far superior auto focus, anti-dust features, depth-of-field previews, greater support for older lenses and comes with RAW processing software not to mention a TV cable. Then there’s the Sony A100 which again costs roughly the same and features built-in anti-shake facilities. Both it and the Canon are technically superior and better-featured cameras.

…So ultimately if you’re a beginner who loved the D40 but wished it had higher resolution, then go for the D40x. If however you want a technically more sophisticated DSLR for roughly the same money, then the Canon 400D / XTi and Sony A100 have more going for them, although if you can stretch a little further, Nikon’s own D80 offers even more still. Indeed the D40x does a great job of up-selling potential buyers to Nikon’s higher-end model.”

Website : Nikon D40x Review by CameraLabs

According to the analysis of user trend in Japan for the most popular camera sales ranking from 5/7 to 5/13. The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ3 took the number one spot. This camera is the latest members of the award-winning Lumix TZ family of digital cameras, which is renowned for packaging a remarkable 10x optical zoom in a compact, stylish body. To further add to their appeal, the TZ3 go one step further to feature a 28mm wide-angle Leica DC lens (equivalent to 28-280mm on a 35mm film camera) for wide-angle shooting.

The number 2 ranking is the same as last time, the Canon IXY Digital 900IS, US name of Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Digital ELPH. This camera offers a focal length range of 28 – 105mm (35mm equivalent), and a 3.8x optical zoom lens allows photographers to capture wider panoramas, architectural photos and group shots. The lens incorporates Canon’s optical Image Stabilizer to counteract the effects of camera shake for steadier performance in low light, at full zoom or when shooting from moving vehicles.

The number 3 ranking is Olympus Camedia SP-550UZ camera, a digital camera with 18X optical zoom (28-504mm equiv.), a 7 Megapixel CCD sensor, 5.6x digital zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD display, ISO up to 5000 and anti-shake protection.

Interestingly, the only DSLR camera that made it to the top 10 is Nikon D200, at number 10 ranking. Here’s the top 10 ranking 5/7 - 5/13:

1. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ3
2. Canon IXY DIGITAL 900IS
3. Olympus CAMEDIA SP-550UZ
4. Ricoh GR DIGITAL
5. Olympus μ770SW
6. FUji FinePix F31fd
7. Nikon COOLPIX P5000
8. Kodak EasyShare V705
9. Ricoh Caplio GX100
10. Nikon D200

Website : Japan Most Popular Camera Ranking - May 7 to May 13

Sony Corp. announced Wednesday that its operating profit plunged 68.3 percent to 71.75 billion yen in the 2006 business year because of price cuts on the PlayStation 3 and the cost of recalling lithium-ion batteries.

But the company forecasted rosier results for the year to March 2008, thanks to vigorous sales of Bravia flat-screen TVs and semiconductors for video-game consoles.

For January-March, the fourth quarter of the past business year, Sony booked an operating loss of 113.4 billion yen, against a loss of 51.9 billion yen a year earlier. Operating profit at Sony came to 71.75 billion yen in the year ended March 31, down from 226.42 billion yen last year. Sales rose 10.5 percent to 8.295 trillion yen, boosted by the strong performance by Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth-largest mobile phone maker owned jointly by Sony and Ericsson.

As for the result of the DSLR camera with the Alpha brand, Sony shipped approximately 400,000 unit in 2006. “…Several new model can be released after the summer, with around 600,000 unit and hits the marketshare of around 10% is anticipated in year 2007″, Sony Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said.

Website : Sony loss widens, several new DSLR models after summer

Sony’s DSLR-Alpha 100K–or Alpha 100–is a full-featured, 10.2-megapixel digital SLR with built-in shake reduction technology. Here’s the conclusion from the review by PCWorld: “The Alpha 100 has a sensor-based stabilization system, which Sony claims yields 3.5 stops of stabilization. I found the number of stops to be closer to 1.5 or 2–not as impressive as on cameras with lens-based stabilization. The stabilization system also functions as a dust-removal system, but the dust-removal cycle runs only when you power the camera off, for faster startup times.

The Alpha 100 delivered high image quality overall. In shots taken at ISO 100 to 400, image quality was very good–comparable to that of other entry-level SLRs. At ISO 800 to 1600, however, the Alpha 100 got noisy.

The Sony DSLR-Alpha 100K is a very good but somewhat pricey camera. Despite feeling clunkier than its competitors, it delivers good image quality and a full feature set, plus some nice extras such as image stabilization.”

Website : Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Reviewed by PCWorld

“There has never been a better time to buy a digital SLR as figures show the average price falling by over £100 in the past year.

In the first three months of 2007, the average selling price of a DSLR (body only) was £466, compared to £567 in the same period in 2006, according to figures released by market analysts at GfK.

That equates to a fall of around 18% in 12 months and 35% since the summer of 2005 when the average DSLR price stood at around £715 – around £250 more than now. However, the news prompted GfK to warn the UK industry: ‘We have seen volume sales grow quite significantly over the last six months but this, of course, cannot go on indefinitely and a decline in volume will likely be followed by a value decline.’

The value of the overall digital imaging market in Britain dropped by 8% in the first three months of the year, compared to the same quarter last year, despite the number of digital cameras sold rising by 3%. “

Website : Digital SLR prices tumble

Website : DSLR Camera for only $299?

SR has introduced an LED ring light that features two flexible arms. The Digi-Slave Flex-Ring 6400 has 32 LEDs mounted on the ring and 16 LEDs on a panel at the end of each arm.

The Flex-Ring 6400 features a variable power dial for adjusting the LEDs’ brightness and can be either switched on as a continuous light source or triggered from a standard PC or hotshoe sync. The ring and side-panel LEDs can also be used separately.

The light mount is threaded to fit on a 72mm-diameter lens and can be used on smaller-diameter optics with a step-down ring. It operates on four AA batteries or an optional AC adapter.

The Digi-Slave Flex-Ring 6400 is available now from SR for $400.

Website : SR Introduces Ring Light With Flexible Arms